Got the red beans with sausage and ground beef canned.
17 quarts! See the second one back on the second row from the left? When I took the picture, it had not sealed and I was halfway hoping it wouldn’t and we would have it for dinner tomorrow but it sealed.
I had planned to can this in 1-1/2 pint jars instead of quart jars because I used 5 pounds of beans and wasn’t sure I could get all those beans into 21 of the 1-1/2 pint jars and I did not want to have to run two canners for 90 minutes, then wait about an hour for one to cool down, get emptied, then start another 90 minute canning job. I can get 14 quarts in the big canner and 7 quarts in the small canner. I think that’s the same number of 1-1/2 quart jars I can squeeze into those canners but I’ll check it so I’ll know next time.
As I was filling the quart jars, I realized I probably need to use quarts since there are beans, and sausage, and ground beef in there. We do have a little left over from the quarts since we serve this over rice, with cole slaw and cornbread but it’s probably enough for Vince to have for lunch another day.
Of all the things I can, red beans, sausage and ground beef is my favorite to have on the shelf. It’s a bit of trouble to can though. I have to wash and soak the beans the day before, then simmer them for half an hour on the day I’m canning them. I have to brown 4 pounds of ground beef, slice the sauce and brown it. Because I can’t fit 5 pounds of beans, 4 pounds of ground beef and 3 pounds of sausage in one pot easily, I have to mess up two big pots, in addition to the Dutch Oven I used to brown the ground beef and the skillet I used for the sausage. So . . it’s a messy job but now we have at least 17 meals of beans and rice on the shelf.
And, notice — the pears have been removed from behind the jars I’m showing in the picture.